Talk:Kim Il-sung
How convenient, we can create him in advance of BA coming out. :Of the short list of historicals I anticipate appearing in BA, Kim was the one I figured would show up in JS, given Japan's role in that timeline. Acheson was out of left field, however. TR (talk) 03:19, May 11, 2015 (UTC) ::Yes, that's also a pleasant surprise. Turtle Fan (talk) 01:30, May 12, 2015 (UTC) I've never been entirely clear on the meaning of the "eternal president." I believe he might actually be the legal head of state for all time. (Or until that horrible regime falls, which will hopefully be in the not too distant future.) Turtle Fan (talk) 23:44, May 10, 2015 (UTC) :There is the president of the presidium, which is generally considered to be the HoS after Kim Il-sung. Not that it matters of course. TR (talk) 03:19, May 11, 2015 (UTC) ::Kim Yong-Nam. I believe he's a relative of Kim Il-Sung too. (It's such a common name that one can't just assume.) According to Wiki, he fulfills the roles that sane countries invest in their heads of state, such as signing treaties and accepting ambassadors' credentials and making state visits (not that his state is welcome in too many capitals). However, also according to Wiki, he is not head of state himself. I can't think of a historical parallel. Steward of Gondor, maybe? ::Incidentally, Jong-Il is Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party. If the fervent hopes of freedom-loving people the world over continue to be frustrated, and those creeps hold to power for a number of generations, I suppose each successive dictator will get an increasingly unimportant posthumous job to do for all eternity. Turtle Fan (talk) 01:30, May 12, 2015 (UTC) In Stirling's The Desert and the Blade I was interested in The Desert and the Blade since it revisits "Topanga and the Chatsworth Lancers" so I borrowed it from the library. It takes place 46 years after The Change. The bad guys are Koreans who are led by an evil sorcerer (offstage) who is the grandson of Kim Il-sung. I recall TR has read the first trilogy which starts with The Change and ends ten years later. That series didn't have much magic or supernatural elements but I understand the subsequent books take a big turn towards fantasy. Hence, its not surprising that the Kim grandson is a sorcerer. ML4E (talk) 19:02, April 6, 2016 (UTC) :I keep trying to decide if I want to pick up that series again. He seemed to be gearing up one character as the "miracle/golden boy", and I found that character and his mother the least interesting aspects of the first trilogy. But I'm also given to understand that Stirling had the decency to move on rather quickly from said golden child after a few volumes, so I don't know. TR (talk) 21:08, April 6, 2016 (UTC) ::I'll bet Jonathan thinks we need a lit comment on this article to reflect this now. Turtle Fan (talk) 22:09, April 6, 2016 (UTC) Its my understanding that the next four books are one series where Rudi (the said golden child) is 20/21 years old and goes on a quest for the "Sword of the Lady" in Nantucket. The next trilogy is the so called Prophet's War where Rudi fights and defeats the religious cult CUT led by the sorcerous Prophet. So these take place 20+ years after the change. The Desert and the Blade is the second book of a new trilogy (or perhaps a tetralogy) with the first book being The Golden Princess featuring his daughter Órlaith as (irony) the eponymous princess. She undertakes her own quest to assist Reiko, the young Empress of Japan, to regain Japan's own magic sword, the "Grass Cutting Sword". Japan had been at war with Korea since shortly after the change hence the Kim family. Topanga comes into play because the Grass Cutting Sword is in Death Valley and the two sail from Portland to Southern California and need a safe passage inland to the desert. Los Angeles is too dangerous (eater tribes still exist) so they try to gain passage through Topanga Canyon. I found the story okay since Stirling uses a lot of different POVs and more flexibly than Turtledove so the worshipful view of Órlaith isn't too oppressive, especially since her companions on the quest know her well and don't go on about how wonderful she is. Likewise with Reiko's warriors and sailors that sailed her and her recently killed father across the Pacific. I have to say, it doesn't make me interested in reading the previous seven books. ML4E (talk) 19:38, April 8, 2016 (UTC)